Off Road
by Annie M1
Summary: It's Christmas Eve in Smallville. This was my response to the Devine Intervention Ficstravaganza.


Title: **Off Road**

Author: Annie M

Series: Smallville

Rating: T

Codes: Season 6

Part: This story is complete

Date: December 24th 2006

Summary: It's Christmas Eve in Smallville. There are no spoilers in this story beyond what has already been shown up to the Smallville Thanksgiving episode, "Rage."

Notes: This was my response to the Devine Intervention Ficstravaganza, whereby names were drawn at random and assigned stories based on a Christmas song, a particular season and rating. My assignment was for Melissa99 and had to feature: Winter Wonderland, take place within season 6 and carry a PG-13 rating.

All spellings used here are British, my apologies for any errors that remain.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. No infringement intended to DC, Warner Bros etc.

(c) Annie M, December 27th 2006.

--S--

**Off Road**

_"You're listening to KICK, the heart and home of contemporary rock in the heartland, broadcasting to you 24-7 from Granville, Kansas. It's Christmas Eve, folks; happy holidays to ya' all and don't forget to keep your dial tuned to KICK 97.6 FM during this holiday season. We'll keep you up to date with the latest news, weather reports and most importantly, all of your musical needs. _

_"And just to show you I'm not the grouch everyone at this station thinks I am, here's a little something to get you into the holiday spirit…."_

Lois smiled as the familiar opening lines of "Winter Wonderland" began to play. She watched the road carefully as she drove along the highway. Heavy snow was descending at criss-crossing angles against her windshield and it wasn't supposed to let up anytime soon. It had started snowing the previous evening across the Mid-West with Metropolis and several counties south of the city recording overnight snowfall records.

When Lois had awoken to the sound of her alarm that morning she'd faced it with an unusual determination to actually enjoy the Christmas holiday for a change. Her boyfriend, Oliver Queen, was flying into town to spend the day and hopefully, Lois mused, the evening with her. The General, her father, had insisted on returning to Smallville to "enjoy" Christmas dinner with her at Fort Ryan, and she had to admit that she was sort of looking forward to seeing the Boss again after several months.

The tyres of Lois' car crunched and groaned against fresh snow as she drove slowly along the path and brought the car up to a halt outside the Kent's yellow-painted farmhouse. Lois was quickly out of the car and retrieving parcels from its trunk when she felt something cold, but solid poking the back of her left knee. She sneezed before she had a chance to look down and see Shelby, the Kent's dog, wagging his tail eagerly against her leg.

"Not now, Shelbs," she muttered, sneezing again. She shut the trunk and pulled three wrapped packages from the roof of her car before turning to make her way up the snow-covered steps and into the house.

--S--

Clark Kent gulped deep and slow from the gallon container of milk he had to his lips. He noticed a shadow appear at the kitchen door followed by a rattling and then a curse. Clark didn't need to use his enhanced hearing abilities to recognise Lois Lane's voice coming from outside, although she was completely obscured by the packages she was carrying.

She was struggling to open the door with her arms so obviously laden, but Clark only tipped the milk up to his mouth for another drink, enjoying Lois' attempts to get the door open when she probably couldn't even see over the parcels she carried.

Wiping the back of his hand over his mouth and setting the container down onto the counter, Clark called out, "Mom, Lois is here."

Martha Kent, a tray of freshly baked cookies in one gloved hand, turned her attention to her son and the silhouette of Lois outside the back door. "Clark!" she admonished, noticing Lois' on-going struggle and that her son was drinking directly from a container. "Where are your manners? Get the door, and how many times do I have to tell you to drink from a glass, you heathen."

"Sorry, Mom," Clark answered sweetly, not sounding the least bit apologetic, as he pulled himself off the stool he was sitting on and finally opened the door.

"Hey, Lois," Clark greeted her casually as Shelby snuck by to race into the living room towards the roaring open fire. "You look like you need a hand with those, can I help?"

"I got 'em, Smallville, just back up so I can put them down," Lois responded, not sparing Clark a look and stepping around him towards the kitchen counter before depositing her armload of goodies. "Merry Christmas!" she beamed at Martha.

"Merry Christmas to you too, sweetheart," Martha responded, closing the short distance between them to give the younger woman a warm hug. "What's with the packages?"

"Oh, I brought presents," Lois said brightly, removing her coat and passing it off to Clark. "For you, Smallville and… a couple of milk bones for Shelby."

"Sweetheart, you know you didn't have to do that," Martha said, hugging Lois once again. "I hope you didn't feel you had to just because I sent that present over to you from the both of us?"

"Please, Mrs Kent, I wanted to," Lois responded simply. "After everything you guys have done for me over the last couple of years… I wanted to. And besides, you know me, Mrs Kent, I never feel obligated to anybody."

Martha shook her head. " Well, thank you, honey, but Lois, you know as well as I do that that simply is not true."

"Oh, I don't know," Clark teased from his position by the coat stand.

"You know, what?" Lois turned to Clark, "I made a mistake, there's no present for you. You'll have to share Shelby's milk bones with him. Isn't that more your diet anyway, Smallville?" she grinned.

"Cut it out you two," Martha warned through a smile.

"Why are you in such a good mood anyway?" Clark questioned sardonically as he picked up the milk and returned it to the fridge. "I thought you hated this time of year."

"Well, this year's different," Lois said confidently, removing herself from Martha's side to poke a finger at Clark's broad chest. "I've decided that I'm going to enjoy myself despite having to spend tonight and most of tomorrow on a military base."

"Oh, you're going to spend Christmas with your father, that's wonderful, Lois," Martha said proudly.

Lois shrugged and rocked up and down on the balls of her feet before heading to the fridge and helping herself to a small bottle of water. "I can't say that I'm going to go with a lot of enthusiasm," she admitted, twisting the cap off. "Ollie promised to come with me…so, he'll… kind of be like my get-out-of-jail-free card--if things get heated," she quickly confessed before taking a drink.

Martha breathed a sympathetic, "Oh, Lois."

Sneaking a still cooling cookie from the baking tray his mother had removed from the oven, Clark enquired, "Did Oliver make it back from Star City?"

"His flight should get in around 6 PM and Daddy's given Ollie's private helicopter clearance to land at the base from Metropolis International.

Clark couldn't resist asking around a smirk, "So you're father's allowing Oliver Queen to stay on the base… all night?"

Water spluttered from Lois' mouth as she tried to maintain her composure to Clark's bold inference. Clark's shoulders shook in silent laughter at her reaction but his own smile was wiped off his face when his mother faced him with a stern and disapproving look of her own.

"Sorry," he shrugged sheepishly.

Turning her attention back to Lois, Martha sought clarification of her own. "Honey, are you sure Oliver's going to be able make it back here?"

"What do you mean?"

"The snow-storms. They've been shutting down roads and services all morning because of the blizzards. Clark's been shovelling snow from around the feed-pens and the path from the road to the house all day," Martha explained.

"Well, yeah, I knew it was bad," Lois said moving into the living room and grabbing the remote to turn up the volume on the T.V. news channel that was playing in the background. "I mean sure, the road from town to the farm was a little more powdery and slick than I'm used to--outside a motor car race track-- but it always snows out here in the boo'nies at Christmas, right? I just thought you guys put your snow-tyres on and went about business as usual."

Clark rolled his eyes, pulling the remote from Lois' grasp.

"Hey!" she balked.

Ignoring her, Clark found the channel he was searching for and the three of them stood around the television, listening intently to the latest weather announcement.

_"… Snowdrifts… members of the public trapped in cars over night… traffic chaos… treacherous conditions... black ice... freezing fog... phone lines down… fatal collisions… roads closed…_

_"As the weather closes in around the southern and eastern parts of the state the Civil Aviation Authority has closed several airports, including Kansas City, Topeka and Metropolis International until further notice. _

_We spoke earlier with one of the Kansas Meteorological office's most senior officers, Mark Mardon, who claimed this snow-storm could last another three or four days…."_

Martha slipped an arm around Lois' shoulder. "I'm sorry, honey."

After the bulletin Lois called Ollie's cell phone but couldn't get a signal in the house. She went outside and paced around the snowy porch in an effort to get her cell phone to make a connection without success. Returning to the house, Lois tried the Kent's house phone, but was met with an automated message that stated all lines were busy and to try later.

"Crap!" Lois' mood was deteriorating quickly as she realised that Ollie was probably still in Star City, and at this rate, he wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon, private helicopter or not. So much for enjoying the holidays, Lois thought miserably.

--S--

The snow was getting heavier as Lois slowly pulled the car back out onto the highway. She'd been back on the road for about an hour and had probably only covered a few miles. The weather was awful; the snow looked to be coming down in duvets rather than blankets and Lois' windshield wipers could barely cope with the volumes of snow as it fell. It was getting harder and harder to control the car and since leaving the Kent farm she had only come across one other vehicle: an abandoned green pick-up truck about a half-mile back.

Clark and Martha Kent had insisted that Lois stay with them at the farm with the bad weather closing in, but Lois was nothing if not stubborn. She'd promised her father she would get to the base, spend the night and have Christmas Dinner with him, and despite her own misgivings she was determined to do so.

As her car seemed to inch ever closer to its destination Lois felt that the potential for disaster drew closer with every mile. She knew that the moment her sister Lucy's name was doubtless mentioned, she and her father would more than likely end up arguing with each other. He, over why Lois didn't have enough influence with Lucy to keep her out of trouble and Lois, over why it was always her job to try and keep her younger sister in line.

As her mind wandered from one confrontational scenario to another Lois suddenly realised that she was losing control of her car. Although her speed was less than forty miles per hour, she could feel the car skidding away from her. She fought with the wheel and tried to turn the car into the skid as her vehicle swerved erratically. Lois' driving skills succeeded enough in bringing the car to a stop smack in the middle of a snow bank on the other side of the deserted road.

As the engine cut out Lois breathed a sigh of relief and took a moment to compose herself before attempting to start the car up again. The engine whirred and wheezed, but refused to turn over. "Come on," Lois pleaded, twisting the key in the ignition. She had a full tank of gas and she was sure she'd charged the battery a few days before.

The car coughed and spluttered again. This was no time for damn thing to develop some kind instant car flu, she thought angrily. She pumped the gas peddle with her foot and turned the ignition key once more. Nothing. "Crap!"

Kicking her door open, Lois pulled her coat tightly around her and leapt out of the car onto the snowy road and opened up the car's hood. She could barely see through the thick flurries of snow and the grey overcast sky, but everything under the hood appeared to be where it should be. She slammed the hood down and rubbed her bare hands together against the cold. She'd forgotten her gloves at her apartment earlier, not thinking she'd need them anyway.

Reaching into her coat pocket Lois pulled out her cell phone and selected a number on her speed dial. The connection was weak but there was a definite, if erratic, ring tone on the other end. "Come on, Chloe," she muttered, "pick up."

Lois' cousin, Chloe, was spending Christmas in town with her own father and she'd know what to do; she'd contact the General and then he could do what he always did: go overboard and send out the troops to find her.

Lois marched around her car to keep herself warm, but Chloe still hadn't answered after another minute.

"Oh, Crap!" Lois cut the call and wondered if she'd have better luck trying the Kent's. She was certainly a lot closer to them geographically right now, and maybe there was a cell tower in the area that still worked. Selecting Clark's home number from her speed dial, Lois tried again. Another faint sounding connection was made.

--S--

"I got it!" Clark called out loudly as he raced Shelby down the stairs to the phone. "Hello," he answered, snatching the phone up on the third ring.

"--ark?"

Clark pulled the phone away from his ear as the line erupted with static. "Hello?" he said again.

"--ark? --is."

"Who is it, honey?" Martha asked, coming to stand beside him as she sipped at a cup of herbal tea.

Clark shrugged a 'don't know' at his mother before trying to listen through the static again.

"S-k… n th ad."

"Lois? Is that you? This line is really bad."

Martha moved closer to try and listen to the call. "Is Lois okay? Did she arrive at the base safely?"

"Lois, I can't hear you," Clark said into the phone. The line suddenly cut out and went dead and Clark slowly replaced the receiver in its cradle and turned to see a worried expression on his mother's face.

"What happened?" Martha asked apprehensively.

"Not sure. I couldn't really make out anything she was saying. She was probably just calling to say she'd reached the army base safely, Mom. You did make her promise to call here when she arrived," he suggested optimistically.

"No," Martha corrected, "I told her to have her father call me when she arrived."

"Same thing," Clark shrugged.

"It most certainly is not," his mother said hotly. "Call the base," she demanded.

Clark dialled Fort Ryan's contact number from a post-it Lois had placed on their fridge door before leaving. He heard the faint sound of ringing at the other end of the phone, before the line went dead again. He redialled a couple of times and experienced the same results. Hanging up the phone he turned to his mother. "Nothing. I think all the phone lines are out."

"Lois could be in some kind of danger," Martha said, the concern in her voice rising with each panicked thought. "What if she never made it to Fort Ryan? The storm out there isn't getting any better Clark, it's getting worse, and I have a terrible feeling Lois is stuck out there in the middle of it. You have to go find her."

Clark nodded in agreement, retrieving a warm jacket from the coat stand by the back door. Martha helped him slip the jacket over his shoulders and he turned thoughtfully to her asking, "But, Mom, what about my secret? What if I have to reveal my abilities to Lois?"

Martha patted her son's arm reassuringly. "Honey, I'm sure you'll think of something, and even if you can't, well there are far worse people who could know your secret. Now go. Lois needs you."

--S--

Clark jogged over snow-covered fields, across icy highways and in some places through snow drifts more than four feet high. He knew she was heading to Fort Ryan and had begun his search there.

He'd raced from the farm to the army base at super-speed, making sure he was unobserved and using the heavy snowfall as camouflage. He'd then used his x-ray vision to scan for any females that could match Lois' description.

It surprised him to realise that although Lois had been raised to be a forthright and independent woman, it seemed that her father must still be old fashioned when it came to women in the military, for he found no evidence of a single female on the base.

If this was what Lois was walking into, then it was no wonder she wanted Oliver along as company. Not that he didn't think Lois could handle herself, but two days with a father who seemed to treat her pretty harshly and a bunch of soldiers who probably hadn't seen any woman--period--never mind one half as attractive as Lois since who knew when, couldn't bode well for his verbal sparring partner, he thought compassionately.

Speeding off the base Clark took to running at half speed along the main highway, not wanting to miss any sign of Lois, should he be moving too fast. Checking his watch he calculated that Lois must have been stuck out in the cold for coming up to three hours. He tried to remember if she had packed any real warm weather gear with her. She was wearing a coat at the house, but knowing Lois, she had probably only packed items for the benefit of her father, and a separate stash of something more feminine, if she was going to spend time alone with her boyfriend, Oliver Queen.

Clark thought he could do with Oliver's skills at that moment. As the Green Arrow, Oliver had a lot of cool gadgets that he could probably use to track Lois in half the time it was taking him, and while Clark didn't feel the cold, he was aware of what exposure to extreme cold could do to a person after any great length of time. The thought of Lois turning blue and still from hypothermia sent a jolt of panic up his spine.

Fishing his cell phone out of his jacket pocket, Clark flipped it open, checked the phone's signal strength and then pressed last number redial--again. It was desperate and it hadn't worked up to this point, but Clark was out of options, he didn't know why he couldn't find her.

He willed the small phone in his hand to make the connection and listened intently. He could hear small faint clicks and a distorted ringing tone. Clark shut his eyes, pulled the phone away from his ear and then concentrated on tuning himself into Lois' favoured Motley Crue ring tone.

He stood that way for countless seconds as snow continued to fall all around him as what was left of the slate-grey day turned to night. At any other time he would have allowed himself to stop and appreciate the beauty of the landscape around him in winter. Instead Clark continued to concentrate, breathing in deeply as he tried to find her with his enhanced hearing. His nose twitched. Clark to another deep breath. Something tickled his nose again and this time he opened his eyes and used a finger and thumb to wipe at the irritation. Inhaling instinctively the irritation, or whatever it was, was still tickling the insides of his nostrils.

Wiping his nose again, Clark sniffed the air--and caught a familiar scent. He spun around again and sniffed deeply. He definitely recognised that scent. Shutting his cell phone and grinning broadly Clark took off at super-speed towards the unmistakable and unique combination of Lois' perfume, body lotion and shampoo.

--S--

Clark had to use his x-ray vision to find Lois' car. It was buried under a snowdrift that must have built up over the course of the afternoon and now stood about five-feet high. Using his speed and strength Clark set to work removing the bulk of the snow from around the car and easily popped the back passenger door of Lois car.

Lois had her eyes closed and was bundled up as best she could with practically all of the clothes she had packed, tucked around her for warmth. Clark gently reached in, calling her name as he did so. He cheek was cold, but she was still alive. He searched through the loose fabrics and found her left hand, he could tell her fingers must have been numb from the cold and that she may well be experiencing mild hypothermia.

Considering what to do to start the rewarming process for Lois, Clark considered using his heat-vision, but recalled a first aid class he'd taken near the end of his senior year of high school that claimed rapid rewarming or massaging should be avoided, as it could lead to tissue damage.

Deciding that he didn't have any other options, Clark removed his wet jacket, tossing it into the front seat then carefully climbed into the car and manoeuvred himself alongside Lois across the back seat. It was a tight fit and he had to keep his longer legs bent, but he knew that what Lois needed right now was to have her core temperature elevated. Gently cradling her head and neck, Clark leaned forward and brought his mouth to hers. He gently blew the warmer air from his own lungs into Lois's and repeated the process until Lois started to cough against his mouth.

Groggily Lois opened her eyes weakly. "Smallville?" she rasped.

"Hey," Clark soothed, "I think you're gonna make it."

"Cold," she said faintly, shivering against him.

"I know," he responded gently. "Try and relax okay. I need to warm you up gently from the inside out and that means I have to sort of a… breathe into you."

"Huh?" Lois managed.

"Relax, okay?" Clark leaned over her again, hesitating when he saw her eyes grow large in panic. He pulled back and spoke quietly to her while rubbing his hands along her shoulders and neck. "Trust me, okay. I took a first-aid course. Let me help you."

Lois nodded a quiet assent and let Clark take over. She felt his warm mouth touch hers and felt his breath rush into lungs. She coughed wildly in reflex, lurching forward and crashing against Clark's chest. Clark held onto her tightly and worked his hands up and down her back, trying to warm her up even as she hacked against him.

"Lois?" Clark asked gently after her coughing had subsided. "When I breathe into you," he said, easing her back so he could look into her eyes. "You try to breathe in, okay?" Lois' normally honeyed-amber coloured eyes seemed like a pale imitation at the moment and he could see she was struggling to stay awake, but she nodded in understanding and let him lay her back.

They eventually established a rhythm with Clark gently blowing air in and Lois, accepting it before blowing it back out. As Lois' temperature rose slowly she was able to reciprocate and began to try and return the favour.

"Clark, you must be freezing too," she commented as she began to regain more of her faculties, rubbing her hands up and down along Clark's bare arms. "How did you find me?" she whispered.

They lay side by side, Lois' back against the car seat and Clark, practically hanging off of it, his own back pressing against the passenger seat. Their legs were entwined and they were both covered with the contents of Lois's travel bags.

Clark had helped Lois into two sweaters and they lay underneath the red blanket Lois carried around in her car. Their hands wandered over each other's backs, hips, thighs, arms and necks in order to keep each other warm.

"I took the truck," he said easily. "After your call this afternoon, Mom and I figured maybe you didn't make it to the base," he explained. "I knew I should have insisted you stay with us," he finished irately.

"Sorry," Lois drawled in a sarcastic whisper, burrowing her head deeper against Clark's chest. "I didn't mean to ruin your day. It wasn't my intention to become a living Popsicle and take you with me. I didn't ask you to come after me, Clark!" she said hotly, twisting her body away from him as best she could, so that she was now facing some of her under-wear, blouses and the leather of her back seat.

"Lois, I was teasing," Clark tried to apologise. "I didn't mean it like that. I know you didn't ask me to come looking for you, but I knew it was the right thing to do."

In this new position, Clark was suddenly very keenly aware of the small space they were sharing. With his arms still around her, he was practically spooning her right now. He tried not to react to her physical proximity or to the unwanted images that kept popping into his head as he inhaled her unique scent from mere centimetres away, and not miles away as he had earlier.

"You're always trying to do the right thing, aren't you, Clark?" Lois turned to face him and their gazes met for a moment. He couldn't read her look, but she didn't seem angry with him anymore.

Finally Lois buried her head against him again and mumbled, "So, what now, Smallville? We can't stay here all night. Is your truck still running?"

"Actually the truck broke down, about a mile from here," he lied. "I had to abandon it to look for shelter. I guess I was lucky I found you, huh?"

"Smallville, do you know how dangerous that was?" Lois responded, her anger instantly rising. "You're never supposed to leave your vehicle in a storm! What if you'd fallen and hurt yourself? What if you hadn't found me? You could have frozen to death out there, Clark. I thought you said you took first aid; don't they teach you that sort of thing? Isn't it obvious?" she continued to question in a tirade.

"Lois, I'm okay," Clark answered quietly. "I knew what I was doing."

"Yeah, right. You know what amazes me about you, Smallville?"

"Do I really want to know," Clark interjected.

Ignoring Clark, Lois continued. "You do the dumbest things, and yet somehow they work out for you."

"What dumb things?" he questioned, offended.

"Well, this for one," Lois gestured to their surroundings. "Always thinking you can save the day, when most of the time, it's me saving your butt--"

"Oh, really?"

"Do I have to mention the demented plastic surgeon? I mean yeah, you got that contraption off of me, but next thing I know Mrs Frankenstein's cold-cocked you--the high school jock, and it's left to me to pick up the pieces."

"I was never a jock," Cark corrected.

"But you wanted to be," Lois deducted accurately.

Clark was silent for a moment. "I just wanted to fit in," he admitted. "Be like everyone else."

Lois pondered Clark's words for a minute before replying, "What's wrong with just being you--Clark Kent? Despite your well documented "hero complex", you're a pretty decent guy, Smallville," she admitted.

"Wow, high praise indeed," Clark couldn't help chuckling.

"Bite me, big boy," Lois teased, brushing one of her legs up against a sensitive area of Clark's anatomy.

Instinctively Clark pulled Lois closer against him and rubbed his large hands from the back of her neck to the curve of her bottom several times. Lois' hands followed a similar pattern, trailing firmly across his chest, down and around his rib cage, and further down until her hands also rested over Clark's backside. She gently kneaded it before her hands made the return journey north.

A deafening silence filled the car, and neither one of them knew how to break it. They were only trying to survive and none of this means anything, Clark told himself.

Oh wait, wasn't he invulnerable?

"We could try and make it on foot, back to the Farm," Clark tentatively suggested minutes later.

Lois barely moved as she laughed into his chest. "Clark, are you nuts? Has the cold finally gotten to ya'?" she asked rhetorically. "We're not leaving this car."

"Lois?"

"The General was expecting me at four. I'm pretty sure, he's realised by now, that I never showed up."

"Lois?"

"Although, thinking about that, Daddy might be thinking that's a good thing," Lois mused aloud completely ignoring Clark.

"Lois, shut up and listen will you?"

"If we can keep each other warm for a while longer, I'm sure a crew from the base will be out looking for us sooner, or later. Hey, what do you mean, 'shut up'?"

Placing his index finger against her lips to do just that, Clark said, "Hush up, listen."

_"Later on we'll conspire, as we dream by the fire. To face unafraid the plans that we've made, walking in a winter wonderland…"_

"What the hell?" Lois yelped, trying to sit up so that she could peer out of the front window. Not only was music playing but it was also being accompanied by the sound of a heavy goods vehicle as it hissed and pulverized the dry and compacting snow.

_"In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he's a circus clown. We'll have lots of fun with mister snowman, until the other kids knock him down…"_

There was no mistaking it; "Winter Wonderland" was definitely being played loudly over some sort of large vehicle's speakers. Lois and Clark twisted and struggled up into seated positions, both leaning forward to try and get a better view through the windshield, but it was frosted over from the outside and misted over from their combined body heat on the inside.

Clark slowly climbed out of the back of the car and went to wave down the heavy vehicle. "Hey!" Clark shouted. "Over here!"

A searching beam of light hit Clark between the eyes, and he put up a hand to shield them momentarily from the glare.

"Identify yourself," demanded a gruff voice from what Clark could now make out was a tank.

"I'm Clark Kent, my friend, Lois Lane's in the car. I'm okay, but Lois might need medical attention. When I found her she was suffering with mild hypothermia."

A stiffly moving Lois brought herself to stand next to Clark. "I'm fine," she yelled out towards the tank. "Are you chumps gonna help us or what? You're from the base, right?" she questioned impatiently from the voice demanding information.

Clark turned to her exasperated. "Lois!"

The hatch on top of the tank popped open, and a middle-aged man, chewing a Chevelo cigar, emerged wearing a beret and military fatigues.

"What kind of time-keeping do you call this, Lo?" Her father asked gruffly, trying to keep the obvious relief out of his voice.

"Sorry, Boss," Lois returned. "When they predicted snow last night, I didn't realise what they meant to say was that the North Pole was shifting its location to Kansas by sunset."

General Lane climbed down off the tank and went to greet his daughter. Pulling her into a long, tight hug he murmured against her hair, "I'm so glad you're okay, baby."

"Hi Daddy," Lois returned the embrace and whispered against him thankfully, "I knew you'd find us."

General Lane drew back from his daughter to look over the two strays before him. Lois wore at least two thick knitted sweaters over her coat while Clark was wrapped in a thin blanket, over what looked like a t-shirt. "How are you holding up, Clark? You look okay" the General said, "but you must be past freezing, boy; you're not even wearing a jacket!"

"I could certainly do with a hot cup of chocolate just about now, sir," Clark managed, doing his best to act cold, by stomping his feet and rubbing and blowing on his hands.

"Come on," the general ordered them both. "Lets get you two into the tank and back to base. I'll contact your mother, Clark, by satellite phone."

"Thank you, sir," Clark said gratefully.

As Lois and Clark climbed aboard the tank, Lois turned to Clark and whispered, "Sorry I ruined your Christmas, Smallville."

Clark grabbed Lois' hand and squeezed it gently before asking tentatively, "Is it crazy to say that this was fun?"

Lois laughed and pulled on his hand. "Kind of, but I guess that's another thing I like about you, Smallville. Your weirdness is contagious."

End.


End file.
